On Thursday, Microsoft and individuals representing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) met at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond to begin reviewing Longhorn to make sure it will comply with terms outlined in the final U.S. antitrust judgment against Microsoft.

The compliance-review process is commencing none too soon, some industry-watchers say. Microsoft is set to release a first "technical preview" of the client version of Longhorn in April. And company officials have been touting publicly for a few months some of the new major features — such as the Avalon presentation system and the Indigo communications subsystem — that Microsoft is planning to make the heart of its next major Windows release.